Baby steps towards linking calcaneal trabecular bone ontogeny and the development of bipedal human gait.

This study demonstrates that three different regions of the calcaneus develop into distinct adult morphologies through varying developmental trajectories. These results are similar to previous reports of ontogeny in human long bones and are suggestive of a relationship between the mechanical environment and trabecular bone architecture in the human calcaneus during growth. However, controlled experiments combined with more detailed biomechanical models of gait maturation are necessary to establish skeletal markers linking growth to loading. This has the potential to be a novel source of information for understanding loading levels, activity patterns, and perhaps life history in the fossil record. PMID: 31725189 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Journal of Anatomy - Category: Anatomy Authors: Tags: J Anat Source Type: research